The Bracket: They Didn't Screw Us

Selection show starts off with UMD's OT winner last year and WMU's win yesterday. Good omen! They didn't screw us:

Green Bay

1. Michigan 4. Cornell

2. Ferris State 3. Denver

Michigan gets a technically tougher second round matchup against #6 Ferris State, but it's a team they swept earlier in the year and is not hypothetically Minnesota on its home ice. That guarantees nothing (I mean, obviously), but I'd rather play in an empty, lonely dungeon than against Minnesota at the X.

Bonus item: Michigan avoids red-hot BC and North Dakota until a hypothetical final and will probably get either Union or a CCHA team in a hypothetical national semi.

UPDATE: The other regionals:

Worchester

1. BC 4. Air Force

2. Minnesota-Duluth 3. Maine

Minneapolis

1. North Dakota 4. Western Michigan

2. Minnesota 3. BU

Somewhere Else In The East I Forget

1. Union 4. Michigan State

2. Miami 3. Mass-Lowell

If Michigan gets out of their regional they'll play the winner of the Union regional in the semi.

I am considering heading up to Chicago Thursday after work, but I already have a place to stay in the Lincoln Park area. I might be able to give you a ride back and forth though. How flexible are you on what times to come and go?

I"m pretty flexible. I just want to see some hockey. I already have a room at the hotel next to the rink for Friday and Saturday nights, so I pretty much just need to get there. Contact me at dan@dankorn.com. Thanks!

michigan state's senior class finally made it to the dance, but what is pretty incredible, they have yet to win a playoff game. 4 sweeps in a row in the CCHA playoffs.. How scary is it they could finish with a 4-8 record in playoff games and have a national championship...

Comparison, our seniors are 19-6 in playoff games heading into the tournament...and I just got sick thinking of the 3 tourney losses...

whoever said they don't know if they can handle another year of single elimination hockey was spot on! LET'S GO BLUE!!!!

$68 is for both days, you can it single-day tix starting tomorrow for $38. Virtually no chance it will sell out, so spontaneous trips aren't a bad idea.

We lucked out from an attendance perspective. Ferris and Cornell might bring some fans, but Denver travels abominably for a WCHA team (it is, after all, a 2-day drive). Michigan is probably the "Big" draw and we'll be lucky to have more than 2k there.

Seems like Worcester is the easiest regional - randomness, single elimination, etc., but BC really shouldn't lose - Minny is the toughest, and Midwest and East are roughly similar. Both Miami and Ferris are capable of really good games, but neither has been great down the stretch.

Worcester is no picnic. UMD hasn't been playing their best hockey lately, but they are very good and a hypothetical BC-UMD matchup is a killer. Bridgeport is way, way easier. Each team has to believe they have a shot, simply because the teams are all so flawed. I would think Miami is the favorite there, but even MSU has a decent shot.